IF Magazine - Adam
Baldwin Is Number One With A Bullet on "Chuck"
The actor talks Season Three, guns, Stone Cold Steve
Austin and 'LEVERAGE'
By Abbie Bernstein, Contributing Writer
Published 5/3/2010
Thanks to the support of fans, a campaign involving
purchase of food from Subway, the goodwill of NBC and
the return of Jay Leno to late-night (freeing up five
hours of prime time during the week), CHUCK not only
returned for a third season, but it also received six
extra episodes this season (which are currently airing
Monday's at 8:00 on NBC), bringing its total order to
nineteen.
Few people seem more pleased by this development than
Adam Baldwin, who plays grumpy but effective spy John
Casey and we spoke with Baldwin about his work on the
series, his thoughts on Stone Cold Steve Austin and
LEVERAGE.
[Editor's Note: Fans of CHUCK should watch tonight's
episode "live" according to executive producer
Josh Schwartz - the ratings tonight will be a big contributing
factor if the show is picked up early for Season Four]
iF How did you feel about six-episode pickup?
Were you surprised?
ADAM BALDWIN: I don’t think anything surprises
us any more. Six is obviously better than zero –
it’s less than nine, but I think at this time,
I think it’s timed out just right. Those decisions
are way above my pay grade.
iF: How do you feel about Jay Leno’s
return to late-night?
BALDWIN: It provides some extra “real estate,”
as they say in the biz.
iF: How is it working out now that Chuck has
fighting abilities, aka Chuck-fu, now?
BALDWIN: It’s good, because he is now capable
of using that skill set to take on the bad guys in an
effective manner consistently, although there is a shelf
life to the skills wherein he’ll still need support.
iF: Speaking of support, what was that gigantic
weapon Casey was using in the first episode of Season
Three?
BALDWIN: It’s an M-134 mini-gun, chain gun, that
is basically a Gatling design and it fires 3500 rounds
per minute.
iF: Had you dealt with one of those before?
BALDWIN: I’d never fired one before, no, so it
was kind of a treat. It’s fun. There’s not
a lot of kick to it, but it’s loud.
iF: Presumably, that’s not real ammunition
…
BALDWIN: They never let us use live fire on the back
lot. I think there’s some sort of code [prohibiting
it. Casey does well with] small weapons. We’ve
got mini-guns.
iF: CHUCK has had some interesting guest cast
members this season. How was it working with Brandon
Routh and Kristen Kreuk?
BALDWIN: They’re wonderful young talents.
iF: All three of you have Superman in common.
Kreuk was Lana Lang on SMALLVILLE, Routh was the Man
of Steel in SUPERMAN RETURNS and you voiced Superman/Clark
Kent in the animatedfeature SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY. Did
you and Brandon Routh compare playing-Superman notes?
BALDWIN: Yeah. I tease him that my voice is stronger
than his leotard-clad character, but that’s just
between him and me. No secrets.
iF: Did Casey prefer reporting to Brandon
Routh’s Daniel Shaw or to Bonita Friedericy’s
General Beckman?
BALDWIN: [laughs] Casey begrudgingly reported to Shaw,
but turns it over to Beckman.
iF: And how was it working with Stone Cold
Steve Austin, who guest-starred earlier this season
in the episode “Chuck Vs. First Class”?
BALDWIN: He’s hilarious. He came up and gave me
a big bear hug. I’m taller than he is - he’s
a lot stronger than I am, so it was a good match, but
I have nothing but respect for a guy like that. I did
a wrestling film many years ago [HADLEY’S REBELLION],
back in ’87, and I have nothing but respect for
these guys. They truly are amazing athletes. They may
not be hitting each other as hard as it seems, but they
take a lot of falls, get a lot of injuries. The movie
THE WRESTLER depicts it very accurately.
iF: Have you been doing anything besides CHUCK
during hiatus?
BALDWIN: There’s really been no time. We had four
weeks off over the [Christmas] holiday, which I just
spent traveling to my friend in Florida, we hung out,
went on a boat, played a little golf, got away from
everything and then I've just been staying at home,
and playing with the kids and the dogs.
iF: Are there any other shows you’d like
to do a guest appearance on? For example, is LEVERAGE
something you think you’d enjoy guesting on?
BALDWIN: Oh, I love the show, it’s got
a great sensibility. And it would be a nice reunion
with me and Timothy Hutton. Maybe I’d get to beat
him up this time. He beat me up [on screen in ORDINARY
PEOPLE] when I was a seventeen-year-old punk and maybe
I could return the favor. But I’ve got to get
that cleared. He’d win in the end, that’s
fine, but it’s pretty amusing. I did do a little
reunion in a small movie with Matthew Modine [LITTLE
FISH, STRANGE POND], so I’m looking forward to
making these return appearances with costars past.
iF: Anything else you’d like to say
at this time?
BALDWIN: God bless America and thank you for your support,
fans and Subway and NBC.
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